VW Crafter EV Audio System Failure, Complete Silence

Having some experience with electric VWs, I encountered a very similar sound quality issue in my 2019 VW e-Golf. The symptoms were identical, complete audio silence regardless of input source, whether USB audio, auxiliary input, or Bluetooth. Initially thought it was a head unit problem, but after taking it to a workshop, they diagnosed a defective bass speaker that was causing a complete system shutdown, a common safety feature in newer VW audio systems. The repair involved replacing the faulty speaker and recalibrating the audio system, which cost 280€ in total. Worth checking if your Crafter shows any error codes on the infotainment system. The workshop mentioned these newer electric VWs often have interconnected audio systems where one component failure can shut down the entire system. To help diagnose your specific case, could you share: Does the issue persist across all audio sources? Are there any error messages on the display? Did the problem start suddenly or develop gradually? Have you had any recent software updates? This would help determine if your issue matches what I experienced or points to a different audio connectivity problem.

Last service completed at 161000KM. Wanted to confirm that after seeing these responses, I checked and the sound distortion issue happens with every audio source, radio, USB audio, and Bluetooth. No error messages showing up on the display. The problem appeared suddenly after a particularly cold night, which might be relevant. What caught my attention in your response about the bass speaker is that I did notice a slight rattling noise from the driver side door speaker about a week before the complete audio failure. Could this be related to the system shutdown you mentioned? The car speakers definitely seem to be getting power since I can hear a faint pop when turning the system on and off.

Thanks for those additional details, that rattling noise you mentioned is exactly what I experienced before my complete audio failure. In my case, that faint popping sound when powering on/off was a clear indicator of the bass speaker issue I described earlier. The cold weather connection is interesting because that's precisely when my sound distortion problems peaked. The workshop explained that extreme temperatures can accelerate existing speaker damage, especially in the door-mounted units where moisture exposure is common. The symptoms you're describing, complete silence across all sources but with power indication, match my experience perfectly. My Bluetooth issue and USB audio problems were actually just symptoms of the failing door speaker, not separate problems. Since you mentioned hearing rattling from the driver's side door speaker before the failure, I'd strongly recommend having that specific speaker checked first. In these VW systems, a failing door speaker can indeed trigger the system-wide shutdown I experienced. The fact that your car speakers still show signs of power (the popping sound) but no audio output is consistent with the safety shutdown feature, rather than a complete system failure. This could potentially save you diagnostic time and costs, based on my repair experience. Would you mind trying this quick test I learned: with the system on, set bass to minimum and try playing audio at low volume. If you get any sound, even briefly, it would further confirm the speaker theory.

Thanks for the detailed info about the cold weather correlation and speaker test suggestion. I'll definitely try that bass adjustment test you mentioned, makes sense it could help isolate the issue. After reading about your similar experience with the door speaker, I'm pretty confident we're dealing with the same problem. The timing of my rattling noise followed by complete radio silence matches your case exactly. Good to know the repair cost was around 280€ in your situation. I just tested turning the system on again and that faint pop through the car speakers is still there, which seems to confirm the system shutdown theory rather than a complete sound system failure. Will schedule a workshop visit to have them check the driver side door speaker specifically. Really helpful to know about this safety feature in newer VW sound systems, explains why one bad speaker could take down the whole audio setup. Hoping this saves some diagnostic time since I can point them directly to the likely cause of the sound quality issues. Would it be worth recording the popping sound to show the workshop? Also, should I expect any other components to need replacement along with the speaker?